u　n　b　a　l　a　n　c　e　d
by IronDirewolf
Summary: Tenet thirteen: The word of the Clan Leader is the Warrior Code. Every cat in the Clans knows the Code, lives by the code. Unfortunately, the cats of CliffClan are forced to question this rule following a tragedy that befalls their leader, Scorchstar. Will the dark forces hidden in the shadows be revealed before it's too late?
1. Prologue

A cave. A quiet, pleasantly dark, and cool place. Much more wide than it was deep, the site still had plenty of space for the numerous creatures living inside: cats. Broad-shouldered warriors squeezed out from a gap between a giant pile of rocks and made the short walk over to the apprentice den immediately across the way, calling out for their sleeping pupils to get a move-on. CliffClan's elders were beginning to wake, slowly but steadily making their way towards the fresh-kill pile in search of breakfast, only to be turned away as they discovered only a cold mouse and scrawny pigeon lay leftover from the night before. A few cross words were tossed in the direction of the warriors by the retired members of the Clan, urging them to hurry up and bring back some proper food before they starved to death.

The words of the elders weren't meaningless, though; leaf-bare held the forest in its tight, icy grip, a fact easily noticed by even the densest observer. The apprentices, once they exited their den, looked to their thinning mentors with dull eyes before the group slowly made its way outside into the bitter cold. They thanked StarClan every day that the snows hadn't come yet, but this season was one of the coldest the Clans had seen in years.

And even without the snow, sickness still threatened CliffClan.

Scorchstar's den was about as far away from the medicine cat tunnel as it could get, but he could still hear the echoes of strained coughing from all the way across the cave.

The smoky black tabby stepped out from the short channel that led from his personal den out into the rest of camp, his yellow eyes fogged over. He hadn't slept long that night, plagued by troubled thoughts revolving around the lack of food and the impending risk of a greencough outbreak. Spiderbelly, his own deputy, and Larkpaw were the only two to have contracted whitecough so far, the young apprentice's illness no doubt brought on by her father's frequent visits to see his only child.

Brindlestem assured him that she would be able to keep the spread of infection down by keeping the current patients quarantined. Her supply of catmint had been greatly bolstered during the beginning of leaf-fall, thanks to the great cooperation between her and the medicine cats of LakeClan and BreezeClan. With luck, no cats would join StarClan as a result of the terrible disease, but Scorchstar worried for Spiderbelly's poor daughter nevertheless.

It was Scorchstar's anxiety that drove him towards the medicine den that morning, and before he knew it, the tom found himself winding his way through the tunnel that led into the heart of the earth and the large opening where CliffClan's medicine cat did her job.

"Alright, obviously you know what catmint is for. What about…thyme?"

A bright, but slightly muffled, voice answered the first: "Anxiety! You chew on the leaves and it helps calm down a nervous cat!"

Scorchstar rounded the corner and finally came to find the source of the noise, Brindlestem and Larkpaw, the latter splayed out in a mossy nest with a pile of leaves sitting in front of her.

"Oh, good, Scorchstar, glad you're here. Maybe you can convince this rock-headed apprentice to take her medicine before I force it down her gullet." Brindlestem, a stocky tortoiseshell, cast a green-eyed glare in her pupil's direction, but Larkpaw only returned it with a smile brighter than the sun.

Larkpaw's golden brown tail thumped happily against the ground as she turned to the Clan leader.

"I'm _working on it_ ," the young she-cat said in her defense, absentmindedly poking at the catmint. When Brindlestem hissed at her though, Larkpaw quickly ducked her head and lapped up a decent portion, chewing the herbs thoroughly.

Scorchstar nodded approvingly. "Good girl, listen to what your mentor says. She's the most brilliant medicine cat I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, even if her bite is worse than a fox's."

The older she-cat rolled her eyes and grunted, "Just because you're my leader doesn't mean I can't give you a good whoopin', Scorchstar. It just means I have to waste my herbs and fix you up afterwards."

Scorchstar couldn't help and purr in amusement at Brindlestem's claim.

"If you were a warrior, Brindlestem, I'd truly fear for my life – all nine of them, in fact." The smoky black tom helped himself to a seat, curling his striped tail carefully around his paws. "I didn't come here to be, uh, _threatened_ , though. I was hoping for a word with you, privately."

Brindlestem's eyes flashed with a knowing light. "Of course," she replied curtly, "Larkpaw, take your last mouthful of catmint and then go check on your father in the back. There should be some spare moss lying around; fetch him some water from the pool and give it to him too, if you would."

For a moment if looked as if the golden-brown she-cat was about to refuse – after all, what apprentice didn't want to listen in on an important conversation between the Clan leader and medicine cat? – but she obviously thought better of it and quickly acquiesced, scampering off around the corner to the rear of the medicine den. Scorchstar watched Brindlestem as she turned, easily spotting the softness of the she-cat's gaze as she made sure Larkpaw made it back alright. As soon as her sight landed back on the tom, however, Brindlestem's eyes were as hard as stone: not cold and unyielding, but strong and steadfast.

"I'll get right to it," Scorchstar said, his tail twitching anxiously as he spoke, "I want to go speak to StarClan. I want to go now, today, before this leaf-bare gets even tougher. I…I just have a feeling that things are going to get immeasurably worse, Brindlestem. Both the other Clans and our warrior ancestors have been too quiet, and I want to know why."  
If the medicine cat was surprised by his request, she didn't show it. Instead, the tortoiseshell fixed him with an unwavering stare, soaking up Scorchstar's every word.

"I'd have you go with me as well," the tom added, "Two vessels for StarClan to speak to means double the chances of getting the answers I want, right?"

Brindlestem got to her paws once he was finished. "Tom cats," she scoffed, "bone-headed warriors. Only you would believe such logic."  
Scorchstar couldn't help but bristle a bit at the she-cat's mockery; she didn't miss his reaction, however, and quickly lashed her tail to quell her earlier statement and her leader's anger. "I do agree with you to a point though, Scorchstar. StarClan has been unusually silent, and Morningfur and Thistlefoot shared the same sentiment the last I saw them. Pick your most trusted warriors to leave in charge for the rest of the day; we'll leave as soon as I've gotten Spiderbelly and Larkpaw settled."

Wind buffeted Scorchstar's short black fur, the freezing gusts biting directly into his skin as the tom shivered. For a moment, the world was silent as the wind died down. CliffClan's leader stood at the crest of one of the many hills that littered BreezeClan's territory; Scorchstar and Brindlestem had forgone the traditional route the medicine cat would take on a journey to speak with StarClan, instead opting to take the shortest, most direct route to Moon Falls, the sacred spot within the lone mountain that lay within the Clans' land. Normally they would have travelled south from camp until they reached the lake, from which they could follow the winding path of the river all the way to the heart of the mountain in the east, but Scorchstar had insisted they travel as the crow flies. The longer they were away from camp, the more CliffClan's leader worried. He had left the camp in capable paws, that he knew. The tom was more concerned about having Brindlestem away from her sick patients…but not concerned enough to keep from getting his answers regarding StarClan's silence.

His companion scaled the hill a few moments later, the she-cat's sides heaving from the effort. Scorchstar couldn't help it as his eyes narrowed in concern, yet he kept his gaze fixed on the horizon as opposed to turning to Brindlestem with the look. She had been the medicine cat that had birthed him moons and moons ago, so it was expected Brindlestem occasionally looked a bit long in the tooth. Her greying pelt and labored breathing confirmed it, but Scorchstar had never even heard her speak the "dreaded R-word": retirement.

Perhaps he would broach the topic with her once Larkpaw was fully trained; at the very least, CliffClan's medicine cat had earned the right to take a back seat when it came to handling the brunt of the Clan's healing responsibilities and to relax instead. Brindlestem had served them well for countless moons, so far as he was concerned, she deserved the most plush, comfortable mossy nest in the elder's den.

"You just going to sit there until you start sprouting moss?" Came a growl at Scorchstar's shoulder. The concerned light faded from his eyes and was replaced with mirth as he turned to address his tormentor. Brindlestem's nostrils flared as she breathed in, but this time if it were from her expended effort or an attempt to scent the air, he couldn't tell. "It's sun-high already and we're only halfway there."

Scorchstar grunted in response, "If someone might not have spent an hour allowing Spiderbelly to pick out his favorite piece of fresh-kill before we left, we'd be nearly to the Moon Falls by now, Brindlestem."

"Ah, yes, blame it on the senile, old she-cat. Next time you fall ill, Scorchstar, I'll order the warriors to only bring you beetles and worms to eat. How's that sound?" Sarcasm flowed from Brindlestem's words like a river swollen with snow-melt, yet it warmed Scorchstar's heart.

"Alright, alright. There'll be plenty of time for bickering on our return trip, so let's save it for then, yeah?" The smoky black tom suggested, beginning his descent down the steep slope before Brindlestem was able to spit out a reply.

Brindlestem cast her bright green gaze up towards the heavens. "Now you're speaking my language, Scorchstar."

By the time Scorchstar and Brindlestem had scaled the rocky heights up the mountain, the sun was close to kissing the horizon. Being a cat of CliffClan meant climbing the rough terrain of the monolith was an easy task for the tom, the pads of his paws used to the abuse tough shards of stone could deal to one's feet. Brindlestem had even done a relatively well job of keeping up with his steady pace. He could have gone faster by himself, but it was important that the medicine cat accompanied him.

They hadn't climbed that high to begin with; there was a crack in the mountain's side just about halfway up that was their goal, before the slopes got too steep and the ground reduced to rock and dirt, without a hint of grass in between. Trees and wispy bushes lined the path they had taken here, and the occasional bird or squirrel could be heard overhead. 'Amazing to see life clinging on even in the harshest places,' Scorchstar thought. Looking back from the way they came, he could see the rolling hills of BreezeClan territory touched by the fading, pale yellow light of the sun. To his left, the west, he could just make out the shimmer of water past the hills and trees that sprouted up, forming the thicker forest of LakeClan's territory. His own Clan's lands looked like a lumpy strip of brown from here, a combination of dead trees and rocky ravines and valleys.

With a sigh, Scorchstar turned away from the vast landscape and towards Brindlestem, who had helped herself to a seat at the mouth of the tunnel that would lead them to the Moon Falls. If he listened carefully enough, the faint sound of rushing water could be heard from within.

The look in Brindlestem's eyes was one Scorchstar couldn't quite place. The green optics were darkened with swirling thoughts, and the tom even thought he saw the she-cat shudder before she got to her feet once again.

"Come," the medicine cat said in a low tone, turning tail and disappearing into the dark hole that led into the heart of the mountain. Scorchstar followed quickly, his black pelt assimilating with the darkness as he entered. Cool, slick stone walls pressed against his side as tried his best to keep his eyes on Brindlestem as she padded deeper and deeper inwards. Only when she twisted and turned along the winding path did he catch a glimpse of the ginger patches on her tortoiseshell fur; otherwise, he might as well have been blind in the darkness. Dry rasping sounded above him as leathery winged bats stretched and took flight, eager to leave the cave in search of food. On and on the duo walked, until the tunnel finally yawned open and the sound of crashing water amplified.

They were in a large, nearly circular cave. Near the entrance, tall, pointed spears of rock met from the roofs and ceilings, forming strangely imposing towers that moisture gathered on. Before him, the ground was smooth stone, dimpled in places but flat in most and the color of sand. The most noticeable feature of all was the roaring waterfall, as wide as five cats and easily triple the height. Water poured from a crevice in the ceiling, and it must have been open to the surface somehow, as faint rays of light bounced off the rushing liquid and painted the cave with a faint glow. At the foot of the waterfall was a small, crystal clear pool, and Brindlestem was already standing at its edge, her toes just barely brushing the water's surface. She waved her tail at him, beckoning Scorchstar forward.

"Drink of the Moon Falls' waters, and pray that StarClan answers your questions, Scorchstar," Brindlestem intoned before crouching down herself to lap at the crystalline surface. The tom did as he was told and settled down beside the medicine cat, shivering as his belly contacted the cool floor beneath him. After just a moment's hesitation, CliffClan's leader bent his head and drank, his mouth filled with an unearthly taste. A heartbeat later, and his vision went black, and the world grew silent.

When Scorchstar blinked his eyes open, he was immediately taken aback. No longer was he in the Moon Falls cave, but a forest. It had been awhile since he had been in StarClan's forest, but that place wasn't easily forgettable. Nothing about this forest seemed familiar. As Scorchstar craned his head back, all he saw were dead trees and frost where there should have been plush greenery – it was never leaf-bare in StarClan's forest. The tom's breath billowed in the wind as he turned, searching for something, anything recognizable.

"Brindlestem?" Scorchstar called out, "Brindlestem, are you seeing this? Are you here?" But no answer came to him.

CliffClan's leader had thought there were something wrong earlier, back in camp that morning. Now he knew his suspicions were correct; even the air here felt sinister.

This was not StarClan's forest.

The tabby tom's fur rose along his spine as he began padding forward, determined to walk until he found someone he could question. The ground crunched beneath his paws as he walked, crushing the frost-covered, half-dead grass that covered the expanse of naked forest he was in.

It wasn't until a few moments later that Scorchstar realized that all the trees he passed looked identical. Yellow eyes wide with confusion, the tom approached one, a leaf-barren oak with skeleton limbs. He carefully raised a paw and unsheathed his claws against the grey bark and drug downwards, leaving a long, jagged wound in the tree's surface.

As soon as Scorchstar's claws left the oak, a terrible scream broke the silence of the dead forest. Scorchstar whipped around, expecting to find the source of the dreadful noise, but his now fright-filled gaze was only met by line after line of dead trees. The scream continued, a high-pitched screech of terror that threatened to tear Scorchstar's ears to pieces and rip his sanity straight from him. The leader slammed his eyes shut and sunk to the ground, clamping his paws uselessly over his ears in an effort to keep the noise out.

But still, the screaming would not stop.

It could have been days that passed, maybe even weeks. Seconds, minutes, hours, none of them held any sort of significance anymore because to Scorchstar, it felt like an eternity before the screaming stopped. The tom cracked open one bloodshot, distant eye, and came face to face with a pair of big, white paws.

With a yowl of surprise, Scorchstar leapt to his feet, his smoky black pelt fluffed out in terror. The strange cat standing before him had a long, pure white pelt and was larger than any warrior Scorchstar had ever met. Blue eyes darker than the lake's depths looked the CliffClan leader over calmly until it became apparent he was in no danger.

"Who…who are you?" Scorchstar gasped, struggling to find his voice again. He concentrated a large amount of effort to getting his fur to lie flat again. "I don't recognize you. Are you a StarClan spirit?"

The huge white tom remained impassive, his face an unmoving mask.

Scorchstar took a step forward, this time his voice stronger despite its pleading tone, "Please. I'm Scorchstar of CliffClan. My medicine cat and I, Brindlestem, came to try and commune with StarClan. You can help me, right?"

The white tom looked away. "Help you?" He finally said, in a deep, grating voice that sounded like tumbling rocks, "There will be no help for what is coming. You and the Clans have condemned yourselves to your doom already."

Scorchstar stepped back in front of the white cat. "So I was right," he said breathlessly, "Something bad is going to happen. But what? Can't you tell me?"

Shouldering him aside, the big tom started walking further into the dead forest. "All the Clans are doomed, those living and dead. The end is near. There is nothing else to say."

"Wait!" Scorchstar called after him, breaking into a run to catch up, "Please, you must help us!" The white tom sidestepped behind a tree, breaking the line of sight between him and the CliffClan leader. As Scorchstar came around the other side of the oak, the strange cat was gone.

With a hiss of defeat, Scorchstar lashed out at the nearest tree with unsheathed claws, triggering the terrible screaming yet again. This time, however, a loud thunderclap accompanied the cries, and suddenly the tree he had hit was leaning, tumbling, falling, straight towards him. Scorchstar had only a second to react, his legs working faster than he would have thought possible to throw himself to the side, desperately trying to get out from under the rapidly expanding shadow of the falling tree. Groaning in protest, the thick trunk impacted the ground first, causing the ground to jump and shake beneath his paws. Then came the multitude of branches, the bare wooden limbs clawing at Scorchstar's pelt as he scrambled back one more tail-length, just barely avoiding their dangerous touch.

The smoky tabby's blood was roaring in his ears, drowning out the sounds of the death sigh of the tree and the continuous screaming. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Scorchstar's legs crumpled beneath him, and his eyes slowly began to close. Blackness soon swept over his vision, and once again he succumbed to the darkness.

Moments later, Scorchstar awoke to the dim light and constant din found in the Moon Falls cave. Brindlestem's paw was on his shoulder, roughly shaking him.

"Scorchstar, come on. Get up!" the she-cat hissed, her eyes wide and ears pressed flat against her skull. "You were right, something is wrong. We need to get out of here, now!"

Although his legs felt as if they were made of stone, CliffClan's leader struggled into a standing position. "What did you see?" he rasped, throat dry and constricted. He just had to know what the medicine cat had seen in her dreams; if they were anything like his, then it spelt serious trouble for them all.

Brindlestem shook her head frantically. "Not here. We're leaving this place, _now_ , before it's too late."

A dozen questions sprang to Scorchstar's lips as he narrowed his eyes at her in fury. He wasn't used to being ordered around, and wasn't going anywhere until his questions were answered. Scorchstar opened his mouth, a growl growing deep in his belly, but was cut off before he could even form his first word.

The screams. The cave shook with their ferocity, dust and pebbles raining down on the two cats crouched by the pool where the waterfall emptied. All around them, stalagmites and stalactites cracked and crumbled, shattering into knife-like shards. Giant portions of the ceiling tore loose and crashed to the ground, one missing Brindlestem's tail by a whisker's width. The she-cat yowled, her look of shock and fear mirrored on Scorchstar's face. The tom grabbed the medicine cat by the scruff and heaved, shoving her towards the cavern exit.

" _RUN!"_ Scorchstar roared, his voice drowned out by violent sounds of the earth tearing itself apart, but Brindlestem got the message. She ran, CliffClan's leader right on her paws. Dust filled the air, making the poorly lit tunnel nearly impossible to navigate, but the two cats continued on, running for their lives. Rocks fell all around them, closing off the path behind them entirely.

Despite it all, Scorchstar could just barely make out the tunnel's exit onto the mountainside. Night had fallen entirely, the dark indigo sky a hazy splotch of color against the dark walls of the collapsing cave. Stars twinkled sadly in the sky above, as if the ranks of StarClan were watching that very moment, silently urging Brindlestem and Scorchstar forward.

He could taste the fresh air on his tongue, it was so close. Brindlestem was gaining ground on him, her tail tip the only part of her he could see. In another second or two she would be clear of the falling –

 _Crack!_ Ahead of them, the tunnel's roof snapped clean off, and the rock sheet fell, slamming across the exit. Rock slides were common in CliffClan's territory, so the following rumble pierced Scorchstar's heart like the sharpest of claws. Boulders dropped from above, a deadly rainstorm, and more dirt and debris filled the air.

One monster-sized rock fell as Scorchstar rounded the corner, and he could do nothing but watch in horror as its shadow briefly eclipsed Brindlestem. Her screech of pain was short, along with the splintering of every bone in the she-cat's body, but the shockwave and reverberation of the boulder's impact lasted forever.

Scorchstar slid to a halt, no longer able to process what was going on. The cave continued to collapse all around him as he stood, rooted to the spot by grief, disbelief…and acceptance. So this is where he would die – if not once, then nine times over. His only hope at this point was that his soul would join the ranks of StarClan, being so close to their earthly source, even as it imploded around itself.

Another sharp shard of rock tore loose from the walls and slammed into Scorchstar's skull, knocking the tom to the floor. He was out instantly, perhaps a blessing in disguise as the cave collapsed completely, burying Brindlestem and Scorchstar in a cold, earthy embrace.

A short time after all the rocks had fell and the dust had settled, the screaming stopped.

* * *

 **Welcome to Unbalanced, a Warrior's fic in the making. I told myself I'd have half of this story written and outlined before I published this prologue, but I just got way too excited about it and couldn't help myself. That said, it's going to be a bit before I update because I want to have a couple of pre-written chapters to fall back on that I can put up on my chosen scheduled upload day, since school and work take up a lot of my free time.**

 **I hope everyone enjoys, and I definitely appreciate any and all reviews. Hope to see you again soon! c;**


	2. Chapter 1

Even though it was the heart of leaf-bare, when the sun shone on a cloudless day out on the moor, even the most bitter cold couldn't help but melt away. On the sides of the hills that faced away from the morning sun, however, frost still clung to the grass, a sharp, but fleeting embrace; come midday, the frozen blades would be totally free.

A shadowy figure scaled one of the taller hills on the moor, clearly struggling with the large mass hanging across its back. At the same time, a small group of cats had reached the top of a neighboring bluff, and it didn't take them long to spot the slowly moving individual directly across from them. The smallest member of the group, a blue-grey tom, immediately let out an angry yowl and pelted down the hillside, making a beeline for the dark figure. Two larger cats followed the first a heart-beat later.

"Intruder!" the blueish tom hissed as he neared the strange cat, "get out of here! This is BreezeClan territory. Leave now before we claw you to pieces!"

"Dewpaw, you mousebrain!" growled another tom, this one larger than the first with a pelt of solid grey, "Don't you realize who you're speaking to? That's Scorchstar of CliffClan!"

A pale brown tabby she-cat finally joined the others, a look of recognition on her slim face. "Rockblaze is right, Dewpaw, stand down. Scorchstar, w-what's going on? And…is that _Brindlestem_?"

Scorchstar and Brindlestem it was. The once sleek smoky tabby tom looked as if he hadn't eaten in a long time; his ribs were beginning to show through his filthy, dirt-covered black fur and his paws were a bloody mess. As the injured leader shuffled across the grass, his feet left red smears on the ground. If Scorchstar heard the three BreezeClan cats, he made no sign. His yellow eyes – bloodshot and dilated – rested on each of them for a brief second before flickering down to the earth beneath his feet.

He swayed under the weight of the load on his back: Brindlestem's limp body, the female BreezeClan warrior observed with a feeling of growing horror blossoming in her belly. The CliffClan medicine cat didn't look thin and haggard like Scorchstar, but she had obviously suffered. Her legs were bent at impossible angles, her ears were torn to shreds, her jaw looked dislocated, and her head, oh StarClan, her head…

"What happened, Scorchstar?" the female warrior whispered, ears pinned back against her head.

Finally, the CliffClan leader said something. "Dead." The single word left his mouth, and that was it. Scorchstar lifted his gaze up to the female warrior's and didn't move.

"Rabbitbreeze, something's wrong here. We need to get him to Thistlefoot," Rockblaze said, nudging the pale tabby's shoulder as he took a step closer to Scorchstar. "Let me carry her," he said to the distant tom, sliding his muzzle under Brindlestem's unmoving form. Scorchstar reciprocated, bending his legs to let the BreezeClan tom take the burden from him. The blue-grey apprentice, Dewpaw, snorted, but moved forward a second later to help Rockblaze position the dead she-cat across his Clanmate's back.

Rabbitbreeze laid her thin tail across Scorchstar's shoulders once he was free, feeling the hard bone beneath his fur. She couldn't help but shiver at the contact. "Alright, let's get back to camp," she said, slowly moving forward. Scorchstar followed, dragging his bloody paws.

* * *

It had been a week since Scorchstar and Brindlestem had left to commune with StarClan. In the first twenty-four hours, no one was really concerned; Larkpaw felt considerably better after a day filled with little more than sleep and a dose of catmint, and even her father had apparently woken long enough to exchange a few coherent words with his mate, Ivyheart.

Everyone assumed their leader and medicine cat had likely holed up in the cave where the Moon Falls were in order to wait out the bitter cold. Thick snow clouds threatened the nervous warriors below, but not even a single flake fell. After the sky cleared, CliffClan expected them to return. But again, a day passed, and there were no signs of Scorchstar or Brindlestem.

The following sunrise, the senior warriors organized a schedule of watch parties that were to spread out across the easterly border and keep watch for their missing leaders. They even stayed there all throughout the night, staring into the shadows for any glimpse of them. Blackclaw and Driftpaw never saw anything during their midnight assignment, but they were able to catch an owl hunting in the dead of the night – the Clan ate better the next morning than they had in a long time, so their worries regarding Scorchstar and Brindlestem's whereabouts were briefly pushed to the side.

Once day seven hit, the entire Clan gathered before the Tall Rock to discuss what should happen next. Larkpaw was laying on her belly near the front, her mother Ivyheart standing protectively over her. Spiderbelly had gone into remission again, his cough sounding more violent than ever before, and the Clan voted to quarantine the entire medicine den until Brindlestem got back.

 _If she ever comes back_ , Larkpaw thought bitterly. She had barely learned anything from her missing mentor. Buckpaw and Fawnpaw had been apprenticed the same day as her, and it seemed like they were already halfway to becoming warriors.

Not that their paths were easy to compare. Larkpaw's own studies were as different as night and day from her old den-mates, but still. If it weren't for the fact that her mentor had disappeared without a trace, she could have cried from the unfairness of it all.

"Are you an utter mousebrain, Fernspots?" A pure white tom hissed across the circle of CliffClan cats, "We can't just up and stroll into the camps of our enemies and ask them if they know where our leader and medicine cat are! For StarClan's sake, that's just asking for BreezeClan and LakeClan to invade! We all know Shadestar would do it too, she's a snake!"

An older grey she-cat stepped forward, lashing her tail angrily in the tom's direction. "Mind your tongue, Hailblaze. There's no need to insult your fellow warrior. Fernspot's idea isn't a bad one; what if we send a small party and ask to speak to BreezeClan and LakeClan's medicine cats?"

Larkpaw jumped in surprise as her mother began to speak. "I think that's worth a shot. While there's no reason to walk straight into our rivals' camps and announce that Scorchstar and Brindlestem are missing, Morningfur and Thistlefoot might be able to help if we go to them personally. Maybe they'll let us pass through their territory and go to the Moon Falls to see what happened."

Murmurs of agreement rose up from the crowd, Larkpaw noted as she gazed around the circle, her green eyes wide. Would they pick her to go on the patrol to the other Clans? She was a medicine cat apprentice after all, so there would be no way BreezeClan and LakeClan could turn her away!  
It was like Ivyheart could read her mind. The calico warrior turned her gaze downwards towards her daughter and immediately shook her head. "Don't think I'll be letting you go on that patrol; you're still recovering from your sickness, sweetheart."

Larkpaw groaned in response, squeezing out from underneath her mother. She stuck out her lower lip in a very kit-like pout. "But it's not _fair_ , momma. It's _my_ mentor that's missing! How am I ever going to learn to be a proper medicine cat now?"

Ivyheart placed a comforting lick on her daughter's forehead. "Don't worry, dear, we'll find Brindlestem, and Scorchstar too. I'm sure they're safe somewhere. They'll be back before you know it."

A sudden commotion caught both mother and daughter's attention. "BreezeClan intruders!" a high-pitched voice called from the other side of the Tall Rock, right near the camp's entrance.

 _An invasion?_ Larkpaw thought, her mind whirling in confusion and excitement. Although she had chosen to follow the path of a medicine cat, the she-cat couldn't help but feel a thrill of impending battle in her heart and paws. Ivyheart hissed at her to run and hide in the medicine den before sprinting towards the sound of the raised alarm, but Larkpaw ignored the order and approached the Tall Rock, stretching as high as she could to snag a pawhold on the dimpled stone surface. Once she had climbed the base, it was as simple as dashing up the winding path that led to the top of CliffClan's leader's speaking site.

From her vantage point, the golden brown she-cat could see the strong line her Clanmates had formed at the cave's mouth; at its head stood Gingerleg, the young warrior who had raised the alarm, who was flanked by Windfur, CliffClan's oldest and most experienced warrior. Blackclaw stood side by side with his sister, Ivyheart, and at the opposite side, Redwhisker was whispering urgently into her apprentice's ear. Hollypaw nodded back grimly, her black and white face scrunched in concentration, but her fierce expression faltered slightly as Mountainstep brushed against her shoulder.

Gingerleg had been right: a BreezeClan patrol was making its way straight towards CliffClan's camp – Larkpaw knew the scent well, despite having only smelt it once the day she was named an apprentice; the hill-dwellers always carried with them the distinctive aroma of heather and rabbits, and as the breeze blew towards her, the medicine cat apprentice caught a huge whiff of it.  
But if this were an invasion party, it was a poor one. Only three cats were making their way towards the waiting line of growling CliffClan defenders, and they seemed to be taking their sweet time doing it.

"Scorchstar!" one of the warriors cried in recognition; Larkpaw quickly confirmed that they were right.

CliffClan's leader looked like a shadow of his former self. Although he had only been missing for a week, the tom reflected the visage of a cat lost for moons: his ribs were standing stark against his once glossy smoke pelt; clumps of fur were missing from all over his body; a large, painful lump was swollen above one of his eyes; streaks of dried blood lined Scorchstar's sides, and he dragged his paws as if the simple act of lifting them were impossible. Their once proud leader was leaning heavily on the shoulder of a tall, light brown tabby she-cat, and on Scorchstar's other side was a grey tom with white paws that kept glancing over at the weak leader every few seconds, a small leaf bundle held in his jaws.

"BreezeClan fox-hearts!" came an enraged yowl from behind the line of warriors. Hailblaze shouldered through his comrades, his pure white pelt bristling to the point that the tom looked just like his namesake, "What did you do to our leader?!"  
Immediately, Windfur took a step towards the enraged warrior, "Stand down, Hailblaze! I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this…right, Thistlefoot?"

The two cats escorting Scorchstar had come to a stop a few tail-lengths before the cats of CliffClan, looking calm and unbothered by Hailblaze's heated remarks. Nodding, the grey tom set down his leaf bundle before speaking.

"Yes, Windfur. I know this looks bad, but I promise by my word as a medicine cat that Scorchstar did not suffer at the paws of any BreezeClan warriors."

"We found him half-dead inside our own territory during a hunting patrol," explained the light brown she-cat, her yellow gaze flickering from the medicine cat to Windfur. "As soon as we saw him, Rockblaze and I knew we had to get him to Thistlefoot."

The grey tom, Thistlefoot, shook his head in affirmation once again. "Rabbitbreeze brought him to me in a worse state than you see him in now, suffering from serious dehydration and malnutrition, not to mention delirium and more than his fair share of pain…"

"I believe you, Thistlefoot," Windfur responded, "Thank you for bringing him back, I know how far of a walk it must have been."

"But what about Brindlestem?" Larkpaw called from her spot on the Tall Rock; as soon as she spoke, every cat turned around to stare at her. Ivyheart's glare was the sharpest of them all, having realized her daughter had not obeyed her order from before.  
Larkpaw swallowed, suddenly nervous now that everyone was looking at her – everyone besides Rabbitbreeze and Thistlefoot, who had suddenly directed their gaze downwards.

"Brindlestem is dead," Thistlefoot said without preamble, and his revelation was met by a dozen surprised gasps.

At the word 'dead', Scorchstar finally lifted his head to look at his Clanmates. "I'm sorry," he rasped, his voice sounding like little more than the passage of a small breeze over dried reeds, "I…I couldn't save her." The tom swayed on his feet despite Rabbitbreeze's strong presence supporting him.

As CliffClan warriors rushed forward to help their returned leader, Larkpaw's legs gave out from underneath her. She could still hear words being exchanged between Windfur and Rabbitbreeze: they had buried Brindlestem's body at the base of the Sister Trees, just inside of the border CliffClan shared with BreezeClan; she would have liked to been laid to rest in such a picturesque spot, in a location as close as you could get to StarClan's speaking grounds, but still within her Clan's territory. They would have to have a symbolic vigil, what with no body to gather around that night. But Brindlestem would understand.

Would she, though? Larkpaw didn't know. Larkpaw hardly knew Brindlestem, had only trained with her for less than half a moon, but the young medicine cat apprentice still felt as if a part of her had been ripped out of her. There was a hole in her heart now, a gaping wound that no herbs would fix…even if she knew what herbs were used to treat such an injury!

A gentle touch on her shoulder broke Larkpaw from her laments, and she turned, expecting to find Ivyheart looking down at her. Instead, it was Thistlefoot. The grey tom blinked sadly at her, amber eyes clouded with a haze of emotion. "You're Larkpaw, aren't you?" the BreezeClan medicine cat asked, taking a seat next to the golden brown she-cat, "Brindlestem's apprentice."

"Not anymore, I guess," Larkpaw said quietly, laying her head on her paws and refusing to meet Thistlefoot's pitying look, "How can there be a medicine cat apprentice with no medicine cat?"

Below them, Gingerleg and another warrior, Ashpelt, were helping Scorchstar across camp and into his den. The smoky black tom still looked like a ghost, his tail dragging in the dust – from exhaustion or something else, Larkpaw didn't know. He hadn't bothered to explain why he and Brindlestem were gone for so long, or more importantly, how Brindlestem had died. She had always admired Scorchstar, like any young cat, but now? Larkpaw couldn't help but hate him just a little bit.

"Look, I spoke to Birdstar, my leader, about an idea I had before we left camp, and I intend to speak to Morningfur before I return home as well. You know of Morningfur, right? She's LakeClan's medicine cat. With Brindlestem's death…we're the only ones left, Morningfur and I. Neither of us have apprentices of our own. So I'd like to help teach you, Larkpaw. I know it's not the same, I'm no Brindlestem – but she saw something in you, and we can't let that talent go to waste."

For a few heartbeats, Larkpaw was silent. She turned her bright green gaze on the tom, slowly lifting her head from her paws. "You…you mean it?" the she-cat whispered, feeling a faint glow of hope blossom in the newly ripped hole in her heart. "You'll teach me how to be a medicine cat?"

Thistlefoot's lips raised in a small smile. "Yes, Larkpaw. I would be honored to continue your teachings."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, but your kind words made me smile! c:  
I know this update took awhile, and while it's only half the length of the previous chapter, I hope everyone will still be satisfied with it. I'm looking forward to writing the next one, since we'll see lots more being revealed, including the after-effects of Scorchstar's visit to StarClan and Brindlestem's death.**

 **Hope to see you again soon!**


	3. Chapter 2

"Wrong again, Larkpaw."

It had been two moons since Scorchstar's return, Brindlestem's death, and the beginning of Larkpaw's training under Thistlefoot and Morningfur. Every morning, a CliffClan warrior escorted her to the border of either BreezeClan or LakeClan, where the medicine cats would meet her; every week Thistlefoot and Morningfur alternated mentorship of the brand new apprentice, and only two moons in, Larkpaw knew just how different the two full medicine cats' teaching styles were.

Thistlefoot was patient and kind, offering constructive criticism whenever Larkpaw got the effects of a certain herb wrong or incorrectly mixed a poultice.

Morningfur, however, seemed to take Larkpaw's mistakes personally. She would growl irritably and roll her eyes before snapping the correct answer at the young she-cat, never offering advice but always handing out some sort of verbal abuse.

Larkpaw pulled her tail tighter around her paws as she stared at the pile of leaves before her, green eyes narrowed in concentration. The pile on her right had small, oval shaped green leaves with slightly serrated edges. The ones in the middle were long, narrow, and tapered, a dark green in color. She was fairly sure they were willow leaves, but Morningfur hadn't given her a chance to answer that question yet. To her right sat a bright pile of yellow shreds...whether the petals had been harvested that way or the LakeClan medicine cat had torn them up to confuse her, Larkpaw didn't know.

"Then this one," Larkpaw said confidently, pointing to the herbs on her right, " _has_ to be dandelion."

The pale ginger tabby across from her snorted, "No, it's coltsfoot, for StarClan's sake," Morningfur replied, her amber eyes once again rolling towards the sky. She got to her feet suddenly and stepped forward to take the pile of coltsfoot into her jaws, before whirling around and padding towards the back of the den. When Larkpaw swiveled her ears to the front, she could just make out the sounds of Morningfur's grumbles and grunts of anger. The apprentice fought hard to keep her fur from bristling out like a hedgehog's spines, feeling overwhelmed with anger of her own and an immense amount of frustration.

It was only day two of this week's training run with the LakeClan medicine cat, and Larkpaw was already wishing it were over.

Larkpaw sat in silence for a moment longer before a sudden rustling sound behind her made the young she-cat turn in surprise. A greyish-brown tabby tom had slipped into the medicine den, his green eyes wide as they adjusted to the dim lighting inside. After a moment, Larkpaw recognized him as one of LakeClan's warriors, Basswhisker.

"Hey, Morningfur, can you come look at Beekit? Amberspring says he's been coughing up a- Oh, oops. You're not Morningfur, you're, uh..."

"Larkpaw," she finished for him kindly, noticing that the tom's fur had fluffed out in embarrassment, no doubt from mistaking the young apprentice as his Clan's medicine cat - not an easy feat, Larkpaw had to admit, between their differences both in appearance and demeanor...

"So your son isn't feeling well?" Larkpaw questioned, eager to talk about a potential patient without Morningfur's judgmental self hanging over her. "It's not uncommon for kits to develop coughs during leaf-bare."

Basswhisker nodded. "Yeah, I had just come back from the sun-high hunting patrol and was bringing back a little something for Amberspring and the boys when she jumped me all of the sudden, freaking out like the Dark Forest had destroyed the nursery while I was gone!" The tom rolled his eyes as he recounted his story. Still, Larkpaw could spot the glimmer of affection in the warrior's eyes; even though he was complaining about his mate and kits now, she could tell just how much he loved them. "Anyway, I told her to just relax and try to eat a little while I came to fetch Morningfur."

The tom blinked warmly at her before continuing, "Or maybe you could come take a look at Beekit? Especially if Morningfur's busy. I'm sure Amberspring is just overreacting anyway."

"Absolutely not!" came a heated hiss from behind Larkpaw. The golden-brown she-cat's ears flattened as she spun around again, this time looking the LakeClan medicine cat square in the face. Morningfur pulled back her lips and bared her teeth slightly at Larkpaw. "She's just an _apprentice_ , Basswhisker, don't be ridiculous. Not to mention an apprentice from an enemy Clan. I'll examine Beekit personally."

The ginger she-cat pushed past Larkpaw and Basswhisker, leaving them both staring after the medicine cat in awe. The tabby tom's gaze flickered between the exit to the den, to Larkpaw, to the exit, and back again. "Sorry," he said quickly, before dashing after Morningfur, leaving Larkpaw all alone in the medicine den.

Larkpaw squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the involuntary tremble that shook her body. _Pull yourself together_ , she thought to herself, gritting her teeth, _Don't let her get under your skin..._

Still, it was hard not to. It seemed that everything Morningfur did she did out of malice, every mean word a personal jab at Larkpaw's self-confidence - or what was left of it, at least. She never would have imagined these sort of challenges on her path to becoming a medicine cat; weren't the healers of the Clans meant to be kind, patient, and caring? Brindlestem had a sharp tongue, sure, but she was never cruel. And Thistlefoot was the best example of a medicine cat Larkpaw had ever known.

Stupid Morningfur was the exception to the rule, surely. It was just her luck that she had to spend half her time training with the LakeClan she-cat.

Blinking open her leaf-green eyes, Larkpaw slowly drew in a shaky breath. Before she had even made the decision, she was getting to her paws and padding out of the medicine den, stealthily slipping into a clump of frost-bitten ferns outside. LakeClan's medicine den was as far away from the central camp exit as it could get, so she squeezed out through a small gap behind the den.  
The last thing she wanted was to be spotted by another LakeClan cat, who would undoubtedly rat her out to Morningfur. Larkpaw could hear the scolding already.

Once she was a good distance away from the LakeClan camp, the medicine cat apprentice broke into a run and headed for home.

* * *

Larkpaw could have been home before sundown easily; once leaving the LakeClan camp, it was a straight-shot as the crow flies if she wanted to pass through a bit of BreezeClan territory too. Instead, the young she-cat stuck to the shore of the monstrous lake that touched each of the three Clan's territories. The lake stretched far to the south, past even CliffClan's southernmost borders. The vast waters even lapped close to the small spattering of Twoleg nests beyond her home Clan's territory.

The sound of the gently crashing waves on the pebbled shore soothed Larkpaw as she walked along the edge. The shallows were frozen over, a fine sheet of ice covering the clear water. The sun, which was finally making its descent towards the horizon, still warmed the air, so her journey hadn't been too bad so far - it was only when the wind picked up and blew across the cold water of the lake did Larkpaw shiver.

A few minutes later, the golden-brown she-cat could hear a faint gurgling noise, and then she spotted the slowly flowing stream that ran into the lake from the heart of CliffClan land. She knew if she followed the stream, it would point her straight towards camp, after she passed the Training Area and Tumble Rocks, that was. The stream's source was Tumble Rocks, a small cliff with tons of fallen rocks littering the ground around it. Every CliffClan cat knew that once you found Tumble Rocks, you were nearly home.

So Larkpaw's feet turned north, following the path of the large stream. She was both surprised and glad she hadn't run into any patrols yet. Scorchstar had seemed to have recovered a fair bit from his terrible experience a few moons ago, and had taken over a majority of her father's duties Spiderbelly had as deputy. The tom clung desperately to life, and Thistlefoot often visited CliffClan's camp to treat her father...but nothing he ever did cured Spiderbelly. As a matter of fact, his case of whitecough had developed into greencough.

The fact that Larkpaw couldn't do anything to help her own father made Morningfur's training sessions even more infuriating. She should have been learning, anything and everything, but instead the only thing the LakeClan medicine cat was teaching her was that she would never be a healer.

With a growl of frustration, Larkpaw aimed a kick at a decently sized pebble in front of her and sent it flying forward, where it splashed into the stream with a 'plop'.  
For a moment, the apprentice stood there, staring unhappily into the ripples she had created. She only moved again when a sudden laugh broke her from her trance.

The undergrowth on the other side of the stream parted and Scorchstar stepped out, his smoky tabby pelt shining in the fading daylight. The tom's yellow eyes gleamed as he tossed a look over his shoulder, using his tail to hold back a few branches so that they didn't smack into the cat following close behind him.

This cat, however, Larkpaw didn't recognize. It was a she-cat, she noticed by her small, delicate frame. She had a diluted tortoiseshell coat, a unique mosaic of swollen snow-cloud grey and pale ginger, broken by a splash of pure white fur on the she-cat's chest. Her eyes were a pale green, like the color of new-leaf growth. She was quite beautiful, Larkpaw had to admit, which made the unfamiliar she-cat's appearance even more strange.

With a start, Larkpaw made one more observation that threw this she-cat's presence totally out of the realm of normalcy: a bright pink fiber was tied around her neck - she was a kittypet!

Her jaw fell slack as Larkpaw stared at the duo, who were totally oblivious to the apprentice standing across the stream from them.

The kittypet giggled as she bounded ahead of Scorchstar, taking them further from Larkpaw, closer to the lake, where she had just come from. "C'mon, Scorchy!" came the strange she-cat's high voice as she crouched low and wiggled her hindquarters, "My gallant warrior needs to get me home before sunset!"

Scorchstar followed after the kittypet like a bee drawn to honey, his gaze trained fully on the pretty she-cat before him. "Don't worry, we'll make it before it gets dark. If not, I'll protect you from any scary creatures lurking in the shadows."

The she-cat giggled again, dashing off before Scorchstar could catch her. The black smoke tabby bolted after her, and within a few heartbeats, the two cats had disappeared into the undergrowth again, the sounds of the she-cat's laughter and Scorchstar's heavy footsteps fading from hearing.

Larkpaw finally snapped her jaws shut once they were gone, but it didn't stop the shock from rolling through her like endlessly pounding waves. What in StarClan's name was Scorchstar doing with a _kittypet_? Sometimes the twoleg pets ventured too far from their nests and ended up in Clan territory - usually CliffClan's, since they were the closest to the grouping of Twoleg homes - but they always ended up heading home before they got too deep into the forest. Either they'd get scared or a CliffClan patrol would chase them and then they'd get scared and never return.

But this one? It looked like Scorchstar was personally escorting the she-cat through his Clan's territory without a single harsh word or sign of bared teeth!

The whole thing made Larkpaw's head hurt. If she had been more inclined to stealth, she could have crossed the stream and followed Scorchstar and the kittypet...but she had no doubt in her mind that her leader would notice, and she didn't want to know what sort of punishment she would face if Scorchstar found out she had seen him with the kittypet.

Instead, Larkpaw broke into a brisk run, putting as much space between herself and Scorchstar as she could. She didn't want to think about what she would do once she reached camp: to tell someone what she saw, or keep it to herself?

The medicine cat apprentice resigned herself to decide once she got back home, and not a moment before. Maybe the run would help sort things out in her mind.

Paws drumming quietly against the forest floor, Larkpaw ran, following the curve of the stream until the ground began to slope upwards under her feet and the grass turned to stone, signaling to her that she wasn't far from home.

* * *

 **Nothing like taking more than a month to churn out a new chapter, eh? Sorry folks, school got the better of me with finals and everything, but now I'm on winter break! That should mean a few more updates coming your way before I have to go back for the spring semester.**

 **Hopefully this chapter was a bit more exciting than the last - we get to see the wonderful Morningfur, and not to mention a strange kittypet with a recovered Scorchstar. This chapter didn't go the way I was originally intending it to, but I'm pleased with it, and I hope you readers are too. c;**

 **Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. Hope to see you again soon!**


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